This article is the summary of 21 Success Secrets of self-made Millionaires by Brian Tracy.
Brian Tracy says that his childhood was spent in extreme poverty. The house where they lived was a small one, where there was always a shortage of money.
When he was 20 years old, he was poor, and even when he turned 30, he was still poor. He was broken from the inside, but there was one thing still alive within him, and that thing was his dreams. He had a dream inside him, to become a millionaire. That dream wasn't letting him live in peace. That dream wasn't letting him sleep. He started questioning himself why some people are more successful, and how some people become millionaires starting from nothing. He made research on self-made millionaires his main goal. He started searching.
After reading more than 100 books and more than 1000 articles, after 15 years of research, he found secrets that, by trying them, made him a millionaire himself.
Secret number one of becoming a self-made millionaire: Dream big. Remember one thing, a person becomes rich first in his mind, and then dreaming big in reality is the first step to achieving financial independence. Why is financial independence necessary? Because it gives you control over your time, you don't have to stay stuck in one place, you can go anywhere anytime.
People can't do this because the first reason is that they can't even think that they can become rich, and as a result, they never even try. They never even start. Whatever they earn, they spend it all. Only when you start dreaming big for financial independence, you will change your perspective on yourself and your life.
Secret number two: Decide your goal. Thomas Carlyle said, "A man with a clear goal will make progress even on rough roads, but if the goal is not clear, there will be no progress even on good roads."
If you want to reach Japan, you have to board a flight to Japan. If you sit on a flight to China, will you ever reach Japan? Never.
Those whose lives lack goals end up where they never wanted to go, and later they cry and regret not achieving their goals. Make your goal absolutely clear, write it down, and chase it until you achieve it. I emphasize writing down the goal because affirmations play a very important role in our success. Write it repeatedly so that it settles in your subconscious mind and you can achieve it.
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Secret number three: See yourself as self-employed. When you see yourself as self-employed, you develop an entrepreneurial mentality.
A self-reliant individual won't wait for something to happen; they will initiate it themselves. They will consider themselves the owner of their life - their health, financial well-being, lifestyle, relationships, home, car, everything will be in their hands. This is the mindset of a self-made millionaire.
Secret number four: Do what you love. Brian Tracy says that when you start doing what you love, then you will never work another day in your life. Self-made millionaires say that they never worked a single day in their lives because they love their work so much that it doesn't feel like a burden to them.
Instead, they start enjoying it. They find a field where they become completely absorbed, considering their work as a hobby, and they continue to do it with complete dedication. Now it's your turn to tell what work you like, love, and can do with full dedication and commitment. Find it and start, success will follow your footsteps.
Secret number five: Commit to excellence. Make a resolution today that whatever you do, you will do it very well, set a goal to be in the top 10 of your field. This is the formula for success; it can change your life.
Almost all self-made millionaires are known to be very competent in their chosen fields. Remember, there is no one better or smarter than you. Everyone who is in the top 10 in their field today was in the bottom 10 in the beginning. Everyone who is doing very well today has also made mistakes. This is the rule of success - your life will only get better when you get better, and there is no limit to how much better you can make yourself and your life.
This will bring so much change in your life that you will be amazed. Make a promise to yourself that whatever you do, you will do it very well, and this promise will make you a self-made millionaire.
Secret number six: Work hard and with dedication. The more effort you put in, the luckier you will become. Have you heard about the 40-plus formula? This formula states that generally, people work 40 hours a week. If you only work for 40 hours, then you are just working to survive. For example, in a 9-5 job, you work 40 hours during the week, get the weekend off, and then start the same rat race next week.
You will never progress; you will never achieve significant financial success, nor will you ever receive much respect and recognition from your colleagues. By working an average of 40 hours a week, you will always remain mediocre.
Self-made millionaires work approximately 60 hours per week. This means they work 20 hours more than others after 40 hours. Every hour beyond 40 is an investment in your future. While an average person works just to complete their salary for the day, self-made millionaires work from 60 to 70 hours per week, make good money, and take long vacations without worrying about anything.
Secret number seven: Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning. There are two formulas for lifelong learning. The first formula is to read for at least one to two hours daily in your field. Reading and the mind have the same relationship as exercise and the body. Reading for one hour every day means you will finish reading one book per week, which means 50 books per year, and in the next 10 years, it equals 500 books.
Because an average person reads less than one book per year, if you read like this, you will advance so far in your field that you wouldn't have imagined.
The second formula for lifelong learning is to listen to audio when you are traveling, during the morning walk, or in the evening. Listening to any audio related to your field is better than listening to or watching something useless. Many people have become millionaires by adopting this habit; it could be the primary reason for becoming a self-made millionaire.
Secret number eight: Pay yourself first. Some portion of your earned money belongs to you, and if you don't save money, then the seeds of greatness are not in you. Paying yourself first means regardless of your income.
No matter how many loans you have, how many people's money or EMIs you have to pay, you have to take out 10% of your income separately every month and invest it somewhere. Use the remaining 90% of your income for your expenses.
Almost all self-made millionaires have this habit. Poor people never pay themselves first; they first repay their debts, pay EMIs, and spend, and in the end, they have nothing left for savings or investment, and they remain poor.
Rich people do the opposite. They take out the first 10% of their income and invest it somewhere, and they manage or spend the remaining 90% of their income. In a few years, the money they invested turns into a birdie investment, and they start earning good income from that investment. You should also do the same.
Secret number nine: Learn every aspect of your business. As Dan Kennedy said, "No one can stop you from progressing further if you excel in what you are doing and move forward with determination."
Becoming an expert in the field you have chosen should be your goal. You should learn every little detail to perform better because the market rewards excellent work with excellent rewards. For average work, you get average rewards, and for below-average work, you encounter failure and disappointment.
Secret number ten: Dedicate yourself to serving others. Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." By helping others achieve what they desire, you will always receive what you give. The passion of every self-made millionaire is to help others.
They always think about their customers, brainstorming on how they can provide better service than others, and they constantly innovate.
Ask yourself questions like, "What does my customer really want? What does my customer need? How can I provide better service to my customers than others? If my customers are buying from someone else today, why is that? What proposal can I offer them to bring them back to me?"
Secret number eleven: Be completely honest with yourself and others. Suppose you have a friend who once betrayed you. Would you easily trust them again? Of course not, because the trust you had in them was lost. The same thing happens with our clients.
The foundation of every successful business is trust. The success of becoming a self-made millionaire will be determined by how many people trust you, how many people are eager to work for you, how much importance people give to you, how many people buy your products and services, and how many people help you in difficult times.
Your character is your greatest asset, and your character depends on your honesty.
Secret number twelve: Choose your top priority and work on it with focus. People who earn a lot of money, build wealth and achieve financial success do so primarily because they always work with focus according to their priorities.
You also need to choose the most important task for yourself and work on it until it is completed. Those who become self-made millionaires always work based on priorities, and you should do the same.
Secret number thirteen: Build your reputation for reliability and promptness. Suppose you have to travel from Mumbai to Delhi by train. You search online for trains, and you find two trains going to Delhi, but one takes 20 hours to reach while the other takes 16 hours. Which train would you prefer to book? The one that takes 16 hours, but why? Because in today's era, people have less patience.
If they get better and faster service elsewhere, loyal customers quickly switch their suppliers. Those who build a reputation for working quickly receive more opportunities and accomplish more. When you can choose the most important task and complete it quickly and effectively, you will advance yourself. Doors will open for you that you couldn't even imagine.
Secret number fourteen: Stay prepared to climb from one peak to another. Like a mountaineer who feels ecstatic upon reaching the summit of one mountain but then has to descend into the valley to reach the peak of another, your life will be a series of ups and downs.
You must have heard that life is a process—two steps forward and one step back. All business life cycles are like a wheel, sometimes up and sometimes down. Do not let emotions flow in minor ups and downs of life. If there is a slowdown today, tomorrow there will surely be momentum. Keep working with this belief.
Secret number fifteen: Practice self-discipline in everything. Self-discipline is a habit that will make you do what you should, whether you like it or not. For example, if you need to reach the office by 8:00 in the morning, you should wake up by 6:00 in the morning. Set your alarm for 6:00.
When the alarm starts ringing at exactly 6:00, you turn it off because you want to sleep for another half an hour. Such people lack self-discipline. Those with self-discipline will wake up at 6:00 a.m., no matter how late they sleep the previous night. Getting up at 6:00 a.m. may not be pleasant for you, but it is necessary.
Self-discipline is a habit that will make you stronger in every direction. Whenever you practice it, it will increase your respect.
You will start liking yourself more and giving yourself more respect. Self-discipline will bring you strength in small things, which will help you in big things.
Secret number sixteen: Bring out your creativity. One way to unleash your creativity is to write down your most important goal on a piece of paper or as a question, like, "How can I double my income in the next two years?"
Now write down 102 different answers to this question. Choose one of the better answers from your own responses and start working. You will be amazed at the results.
Secret number seventeen: Surround yourself with the right people. There will always be someone at every turning point in your life, either to help you or to hinder you. You are like a chameleon with the people you spend most of your time with.
It means you adopt their habits and nature. If you want to become a successful person, maintain positive relationships with optimistic people who have goals and are moving forward in life. Stay away from pessimistic people who lack goals and are not progressing in life.
Secret number eighteen: Take good care of your health. A healthy body with a healthy mind is the key to success. If you work day and night and earn millions of rupees but die soon without enjoying life with that money, what's the point?
Therefore, it is essential to take care of your health as well. Living a long, prosperous, and healthy life involves three principles. The first principle is maintaining the right weight. The formula for weight loss and physical fitness is to "eat less and exercise more."
The second principle is a properly balanced diet. Eat better, eat less, and consume more protein, fruits, and vegetables.
The third principle is proper exercise. This requires approximately 200 minutes of intense physical exercise per week or an average of 30 minutes of exercise daily.
Secret number nineteen: Be decisive and industrious. According to the law of probability, if you try many times to succeed, you will eventually succeed at the right time.
Unsuccessful people cannot make decisions. They know what they should do, but making a strong decision is not in their character. They never achieve financial independence, settling for less than what was possible for them.
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Secret number twenty: Never make failure an option. The truth is, that everyone fears failure. Everyone fears poverty and loss. But self-made millionaires confront this fear with consistent courage and take action in every situation.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." When you work with courage, a power arises within you. Every action boosts your courage. Whenever you step forward in the direction of success without the expectation of success, your fear will disappear, and your courage and confidence will increase, eventually reaching a point where you are not afraid of anything.
It is your job to commit to yourself to become a self-made millionaire. Your job is to set goals for yourself, write them down, and work for them every day. You must remind yourself every day that failure is not an option, which will ensure your long-term success more than anything else.
Secret number twenty-one: Refuse to accept defeat. If you are working towards success, pledge from the outset that you will not accept defeat no matter what. Resilience in facing challenges is a quality that will determine your success more than anything else. Remember, life is a test. You will have to demonstrate resilience for your success, and this test often comes suddenly.
It can happen anytime, often when you least expect it. It is the time when you and those around you demonstrate what you are made of. One day, you will reach a point where nothing can stop you from being successful.